Geneva: All international aid organisations have left the embattled Afghan city of Kunduz following a US air strike on a hospital run by medical charity MSF and amid heavy fighting, the UN said today.
The humanitarian situation in the strategic northern city, briefly captured by the Taliban last month, is thought to be difficult but the extent of what is needed remains unclear because of problems getting access, the UN humanitarian agency said.
"There are presently no humanitarian agencies left inside Kunduz city," said OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke.
"Two UN entities, four national NGOs and 10 international NGOs have been temporarily relocated due to the ongoing conflict and unstable and fluid security situation in Kunduz," he told AFP.
A US air strike hit MSF's Kunduz hospital on Saturday, killing 22 people and sparking international outrage, with the charity branding the incident a war crime. The top US commander in Afghanistan on Tuesday said the hospital had been "mistakenly struck".
The strike came days after the Taliban briefly overran Kunduz in their most spectacular victory in 14 years.
MSF has closed its trauma centre seen as a lifeline in the war-battered region after the incident, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a "thorough and impartial investigation".
